Menu at mk for Obama fundraiser

Bill Daley

A dinner featuring only sustainably produced American food and wine is being set for President Obama at a fundraising dinner Thursday at mk, according to a press release from the restaurant. Chefs Michael Kornick and Erick Williams are planning a multi-course meal for around 17 guests.

Asked who is sponsoring the fundraiser, publicist Allison Clark wrote back via an email: “They are individual donors who wish to remain anonymous.” The invitation to this “intimate dinner and discussion” says the event is being paid for by Obama Victory Fund 2012, a joint fundraising committee authorized by Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee.

No doubt, these anonymous folks will be putting up some green -- $35,800 a head -- to eat and drink green. The menu suggests they’ll get their money’s worth.

Hors d’oeuvres include perch from Sweet Water Organics, an “urban fish and vegetable farm” in Milwaukee, Wis.; griddled Maine lobster sandwiches; and beef tartare fashioned from grass-fed meat from Bill Kurtis’ Tall Grass Beef Co. A 2009 Qupe Bien Nacido Cuvee, a 50-50 blend of chardonnay and viognier from California’s Central Coast, will be served with this nibbles, according to the restaurant.

The dinner will feature black pepper and tarragon “demi-cured” Maine salmon with asparagus, shaved fennel, preserved lemon emulsion; and a duet between seared Maine diver sea scallops and rosemary braised short ribs with pureed parsnips and roasted carrots. The pour will be a 2007 Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir “La Bauge Au Dessus” from Santa Barbara County in California. Dessert will feature a vanilla panna cotta with a rhubarb-ginger compote and vanilla sables.

All sounds quite good. But one has to wonder just how much of it the president will enjoy. Obama, you see, is also a guest at earlier $5,000-a-plate dinner at N9NE Steakhouse. Julie Zerega, a N9NE spokeswoman, said the steakhouse would have no comment on the dinner or its menu per the request of the Democratic National Committee. This dinner is also sponsored by Obama Victory Fund 2012.

Since none of us can compare/contrast these two back-to-back dinners – and since we can’t eat them all we can do is dish -- let’s compare the mk menu as publicized with what was served at a similar high-wattage, high-ticket New York City fundraiser on March 28 at Red Rooster, the Harlem restaurant recently opened by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson of Chicago’s C-House Restaurant. There, Obama and guests were served a lobster salad with asparagus, peas and a “hot” biscuit with a semi-dry 2008 Hermann J. Wiemer Riesling from New York’s Finger Lake region; braised short ribs with “honey glazed chokes,” spring onions and a red wine reduction with a 2009 Brown Estate Vineyards “Chaos Theory,” a red blend from California’s Napa Valley; chocolate cake with rhubarb compote and buttermilk sherbet served with a 2007 Ridge “Essence” Geyserville, a California dessert wine; and sweet potato doughnuts with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Forget the rubber chicken, seems lobster, short ribs and California blends are the standards for today’s presidential fundraising fare – along with plenty of green.